While everyone knows that we are quickly draining our natural resources and creating a great deal of waste, what many people don’t know is that someone with a master's degree in civil engineering can help reduce much of that waste by designing sustainable structures now and going forward. If you question just how important sustainable buildings really are for our future, just take a look at some of what you can accomplish with a Norwich University masters in civil engineering.

Civil Engineering in the Construction Industry

Beyond seeking ways to avoid waste and to use sustainable materials in designing today’s architecture, a civil engineer must break everything down into what this means on a practical level. Not only are you seeking to reduce physical waste, but you are also seeking ways to avoid wasting energy. Much of the energy supplied today is a product of fossil fuels and that is a key focus when designing and building sustainable buildings. Not only must the civil engineer look at ways to avoid wasted energy in the construction of the building, but the building itself must be designed in such a way as to be energy efficient. Energy efficiency is the surest way to avoid waste, and so this is going to be a huge focus on civil engineering at Norwich University.

Have You Factored in Location?

Not only must a sustainable building be designed to have the least impact on the ecology but should also be planned in an area where the least damage will be done to the environment. You can have both the first two factors solidly in place, but what happens if the location of your sustainable building damages the ecosphere where you wish to locate it? Sustainable buildings take into consideration the natural habitat around where it is to be constructed and if it isn’t possible to avoid a negative impact on the ecosystem, those same plans can just be located somewhere else.

Fields within Civil Engineering with a Focus on Sustainable Architecture

When you think of civil engineering, you think of someone who sits down with pencil and paper (computer software in today’s world) with the goal of designing a sound structure. It could be an airport terminal building, a road, a bridge, or any other civil structure. However, when it comes to a commitment to our future, civil engineering takes sustainability into all areas within the field. Whether you study:

Resource and Environmental Planning

Geotechnical Engineering

Construction Engineering

All focus must also be on keeping the ecosphere safe from any further damage. We’ve done enough harm as it is and unless greater efforts aren’t made in the very near future, we just might be destroying the very planet we are trying to build up.

Going green with sustainable buildings is more than a reduction in waste today. The actual focus should be on all our tomorrows so that there is something left of the earth for our children and our children’s children to enjoy. This is civil engineering of the future which can be learned today. Isn’t it time to think about how you can play a vital role in our future?